The Dark Binding

Chapter 4

Sabrina's stomach was a knot of anxiety while she climbed the stairs, hoping against hope that somehow, she'd find her way.

She craned her neck upward and groaned when she saw that the stairs seemed to go on for at least two eternities.

The stairs must be in the legs of the statue, she guessed and pressed her small hand against the rough, cold stone. A loud boom startled her when a wooden door that she had not noticed before suddenly sprang open from the wall. It seemed out of place, like a single spring leaf floating on a clear lake.

Mustering up her courage she entered the doorway and was greeted by a long, dimly lit hallway with numbered rooms.

Glancing back, she saw that the mysterious door had disappeared.

Can't go back now, she thought before taking her first step across the eerie quiet hallway. Sabrina passed all the numbered doors until she found room 372 and stepped inside.

Immediately upon entering, Sabrina felt her spirits suddenly dampening as though she were disappointed in something.

The room was small and its floor was coated in a thick layer of dust.

Grey light seeped into the room, illuminating a chair which stood before a tall object veiled in white cloth.

''Sabrina Blackwell?'' a low voice croaked from the darkness.

And then something stepped into the light.

The creature was naked and short, only reaching her hips in height. It had a narrow head, a bird's beak and large orange eyes which seemed very old. Its fingers which seemed more like crooked branches, rested upon its round belly in a relaxed way.

Sabrina lifted her hands to her mouth at the sight of the creature, it was all she could do not to gasp.

Unconcerned, the creature gestured her into the seat before removing the white cloth in a flourish to reveal a tall, dark mirror with obsidian glass.

Connected to the mirror was a system of gears and a single crank. But what was even stranger was the fact that it did not reveal Sabrina's reflection. In fact, when she looked at it, all that it returned was darkness.

The creature used both hands to spin the crank, creating a metallic hum as the gears began to twist.

On the mirror, a feint, orange light began to glow brighter as the gears turned. After a while the light formed the outline of a human body. Sabrina heard a loud cracked as the mirror splintered, sending out cobwebs across the obsidian.

I must have broken it! Sabrina thought. The creature removed a particular shard from the mirror and it repaired almost instantly.

She watched as the creature disappeared into a small cellar before returning with a rolled-up scroll, a quill and some ink.

Sabrina filled in the requested information, set down the quill and looked up.

''What now?'' she asked.

The creature pressed the glass against the parchment into which it sunk. It then pressed its long fingernail into Sabrina's thumb. She let out a sharp, ouch as two drops of blood welled up and dropped onto the glass.

''Welcome to the Grand Guild,'' the creature congratulated in a voice that implied exactly the opposite, before handing her a white envelope.

''Why did the room feel so glum and depressing?'' Sabrina asked her father.

She had found them both on the statue's ground floor and were now on the lift headed back down to the Summer Side City.